THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 1 
798 
IMPRESSIONS OF APPLE-GROWING IN 
WESTERN NEW YORK. 
Great Need of Humus Crops. 
PAST CONDITIONS—An observant visitor ac¬ 
quainted with the superficial features of apple-grow¬ 
ing will be considerably impressed with the present 
condition of that industry in western New York. It 
has been my privilege to visit the region various times 
during the past 10 years. At the time of my first visit 
in 1891, 1 was struck with the frequent absolute neg¬ 
lect of the best orchard practices, all too apparent in 
the apple-growing regions of that section. The repu¬ 
tation of western New York as a progressive fruit 
region had reached and impressed me while I was 
connected with the Experiment Station at Ottawa, 
Canada; but it is only fair to say that a visit to the 
region dispelled the illusion very effectually. Of 
course it must Di remembered that, about that time 
the general financial depression which rested upon 
the country fell heavily upon those classes of products 
which, if not actual luxuries, rank near them. There 
was less inducement to care for orchards in the best 
manner at that time than there is now. Again, many 
of the orchards had just passed the period of their 
most vigorous development. They had been planted, 
given fair treatment for several years and then al¬ 
lowed in a measure to take care of themselves. The 
result was that quite satisfactory crops of fruit fol¬ 
lowed for a number of years. Then under this let- 
alone policy the enemies of the fruit and of the fo 
liage gradually increased in number and in injuring 
power, and with this the loss of vigor of the tree went 
on in an increasing ratio. About that time the Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture of Cornell University, under the 
leadership of Prof. Bailey, began a vigorous crusade 
throughout the best apple-growing region of the 
State, having for its object the betterment of orchard 
conditions by the improvement of methods of cul¬ 
ture. 
REFORMS BEGIN.—It is a well recognized fact in 
agriculture as well as in sociology that reforms come 
slowly. College men also recognize the fact that 
while their advice is generally listened to with a great 
deal of respect, yet it is not acted upon with that alac¬ 
rity that they would be pleased to see. In this case, 
however, there were in some of the best regions wide¬ 
awake men who realized that things had come to such 
a pass that either the apple industry must be aban¬ 
doned or the methods of managing it changed. So the 
plow and cultivator were introduced, and the spray¬ 
ing pump brought in. The pruners went through and 
cut out surplus wood. The great crop of 1896, the 
fair crops of 1897. 1898, 1899, and the bumper crop of 
1900 have more than justified the wisdom of this 
course. Where 10 years ago sod was the rule in or¬ 
chards, now it is the exception. Ten years ago it was 
difficult to find a spraying pump; now experiment- 
station men can afford to visit this region for the 
purpose of getting practical ideas from farmers in re¬ 
gard to the best and easiest way of applying fungi¬ 
cides and insecticides. This is essentially the era of 
the cultivator and the spray pump. It seems to me, 
however, that we have now reached a stage when the 
limit of the efficiency of these horticultural aids, when 
used by themselves, has been reached. Cultivation 
has done wonders for the orchards by rendering avail¬ 
able locked-up plant food. It has done wonders in 
saving the soil moisture. But it must be remembered 
that when trees are fruiting as heavily as orchards 
are in western New York they are making a great 
drain upon the soil and a drain that the cultivator 
alone, even when supplemented by commercial fer¬ 
tilizers, will not entirely meet. 
COVER CROPS FOR HUMUS.—What is the prob¬ 
lem, then, at the present time? It seems to me that 
the vital question now confronting the apple-grower 
of western New York is that of keeping up the store 
of humus. Under the present method the trees are 
drawing heavily upon the humus content of the soil, 
and no special effort is being made to meet that drain. 
Something must be done or the trees will suffer. The 
soil will become hard, compacted and lifeless. One 
of the problems, then, is that of suitable cover crops. 
There is no question in my mind but that the proper 
course to pursue is to sow a suitable cover crop on 
the orchard at the time of the last cultivating—say 
in the middle of July. The question as to what the 
best cover is is not so easy to answer. It certainly 
should De a legume. Shall we try clover, or shall we 
test vetch, or experiment with cow peas or Soy beans? 
These are questions that, in a measure, must be 
worked out by the individual grower. They are ques¬ 
tions that interest the college of agriculture as well 
as the field agriculturist. It is hoped that in connec¬ 
tion with the farmers’ reading-course circles we shall 
be able to arrange the coming season for a series of 
cover-crop experiments in different parts of the State. 
Tkese thoughts are given expression at the present 
time with the view of getting into correspondence 
with men who are interested in this problem, and 
who would like to cooperate with us in this work. 
Cornell University. [Prof.] john craig. 
THE VALUE OF BEES. 
Positive Statements About Them. 
When the bees were destroying my grapes this year 
I had it in mind to write you in regard to it, but 
thought, perhaps, it was not worth while. Prof. Sling- 
erland’s article, however, has caneu it to mind, as 
well as some older memories. Some time early in the 
eighties, I do not recall the exact year, bees destroyed 
nearly all my grapes, somewhere from 10 to 20 bush¬ 
els. When they were at work on the grapes by the 
thousands I wrote my old friend and classmate, Prof. 
A. J. Cook, the well-known bee expert, in regard to 
it, and he answered in effect that I must be mistaken. 
Bees were not built that way, and could not make an 
opening through the skm of a grape. I was reminded 
of the old story or the lawyer who went into the pris¬ 
oner’s cell and told him that he could not be im¬ 
prisoned on such a charge. “But,” said the prisoner, 
“I am here.” In spite of the impossibility of the bees 
doing such a thing I saw thousands of them destroy¬ 
ing my grapes, and Knew that they ruined nearly my 
whole crop that year. I cannot say that they made 
the first puncture in the grape, and it makes no differ¬ 
ence whether they did or not. If something else did 
it they were on hand to take advantage ot it, and 
finished up the work of destruction, doing practically 
the whole of it. That year, the first step in the work 
was a small round puncture through the skin, not 
larger than a pin prick. The juice was sucked out 
and the hole gradually enlarged, until several bees 
worked in it at once. The skin was finally split from 
end to end of the grape, and every last bit of the juice 
extracted, leaving nothing but the dry skin and seeds. 
THE BANANA APPLE. Fig. 308. See Page 802. 
and the hard matter of the pulp. That was my first 
experience of the kind, and the last until this year. 
These two are the only years in the past 40 that bees 
have injured grapes on my place. This year they did 
not begin on the grapes so soon after ripening, and 
did not destroy over half the crop. The destruction 
began in a different way this year from what it did 
before. Then it began wiin a round puncture like the 
prick of a pin. This year it began with a very smail 
V-shaped incision, such as might have been made with 
a three-cornered needle. This was gradually enlarged, 
the cut or tear being extended, and the point of skin 
rolled back until the grape was split from end to end 
and sucked dry. I have seen this work being done by 
swarms of bees, and have seen it in all stages except 
that I cannot positively state that I ever saw the first 
minute puncture made, and I know that the bees did 
the work of destruction. Forty million instances 
where bees did nothing of the kind do not have a 
particle of weight with me against these instances 
where I knew they did it. This year and nearly every 
year they work on my Abundance plums. As soon as 
the plums turn a little red the birds pick into them, 
and then the bees step in and complete the work of 
destruction. f. hodgman. 
Climax, Mich. 
How Bees Get Into Grapes. 
I am among Liiose who believe that the honey¬ 
bees can and do work their way into ripe sound fruit. 
Also, I do not believe that it is a puncture which 
does the work, but -ather the wearing away of the 
skin of the fruit by a labial motion or licking pro¬ 
cess. While I have never observed closely enough 
to make sure of the whole detail, I have seen this 
much: First, two to four bees would be gathered to¬ 
gether at a certain place polishing tne convex sur¬ 
face of a perfect grape; the bloom was taken off at 
this place. They did not leave their position during 
my stay—say a minute or two. A step forward 
brought me to a grape in which the surface was par¬ 
tially flattened and where bees were working as be¬ 
fore. At the next step the bees had evidently pushed 
the underlying pulp to one side, and in place of a con¬ 
vex surface it was concave. Further on a small hole 
was worn through, while at the fifth grape visited 
the bees were fast reducing the berry to a shell. What 
were the bees there for? Was it just ':ome little game 
they were playing? Or, did they know what to ex¬ 
pect as the result of their labor? No doubt certain 
birds and wasps are responsible for much of tne dam¬ 
age ascribed to bees. When they are numerous ihey 
never fail to show their work. But bees are not al¬ 
ways so much in evidence; only in occasional years 
have they caused me much damage, and I have 
thought that perhaps their knowledge of their ability 
to open a grape was an acquired one, and not natural. 
To illustrate, a pig turned into a dry lot with milch 
cows may starve to death. Yet a pig may by chance 
acquire the habit of sucking cows, and teach u to a 
dozen or a hundred of his mates. You can ail think 
of other parallel cases. While I am willing to admit 
that honey-bees are useful in distributing pollen, I 
believe that the aggressive bee men (almost as ag¬ 
gressive as their bees) have much overdrawn the pic¬ 
ture. Nor do I believe tnat cross-fertilization is as 
necessary in obtaining a crop of fruit irom most va¬ 
rieties as many seem to think. My orchard, with 
hundreds of varieties intermingled, does not show 
more nor better fruit than my neighbor’s, which was 
planted on the other extreme. b. rtjckman. 
Illinois. _ 
HORSE SHOE FARM NOTES. 
Notes on The R. N.-Y. of October 27. 
COMPRESSED AIR.—Compressed air as a motor 
power is coming more and more into use. A foreman 
in our big bridge shop says, “It costs considerable to 
get it in shape, but we use it, for it’s not hot.” Some 
agents have canvassed the rural districts selling a 
small hand compressor for use in spraying potatoes, 
trees, etc. The compressors are usually sold for ?5. 
With care they work well for a few days, but soon get 
out of order, and have this caution pasted on them: 
“We will not be responsible for any damage by their 
blowing up.” The buyers have done all the “blowing 
up” so far. Their language was not either compressed 
or repressed. Mr. Van Alstyne is made to pass judg¬ 
ment on a traveling table for a cutter. No. 16 Ohio 
cutters do not require bundles, as they come from the 
corn harvesters, to be separated before running 
through, in this section, and we grow corn quite large 
here. Bundles are as large as a man can lift on to a 
wagon. Our No. 16 has run nearly a month, and in 
no case have we even cut the band, unless the grower 
wished to keep the strings from going into the silo. 
It is strong enough to cut anything that will go in, in 
the fodder line, and one big horseshoe did but little 
damage. Probably the separation is required because 
of unnecessary fear of breakage or lack of power to 
run it strong enough. Use a traction engine. Many 
make a mistake in not grinding the knives often 
enough. We grind once, sure, and sometimes twice 
per day. Lei any man feed one day on each style and 
he will vote for the traveling table every time. It 
does all the work, takes away need of second man, 
and the feeder has only to straighten tops and bear 
down hard if corn gets stuck. No money could buy 
ours, if there were no more. There is scarcely any¬ 
thing to get out of order, for one drive-chain is all 
the extra machinery needed. 
ORCHARDS IN SOD.—Some apple trees grow too 
fast, spend all their energies growing fuel and give 
no fruit. I had one of that kind, set out by myself 
22 years ago. I asked advice of noted horticulturists. 
“Stop cultivating,” said one, but it was never culti¬ 
vated. Stop fertilizing,” said a second, but it was 
never fertilized. “Prune severely,” said a third, but 
I had cut the limbs half off several years, anu it grew 
all the faster. I concluded to let it alone, and did. 
Now it has so many limbs on it, a professor sneering- 
ly said, "The finest forest I have seen in a good 
while.” But the growth was checked and fruit buds 
formed and there have been two large crops; 1,000 
bushels, this year, from 100 trees. I am not sure 
whether letting the tops alone caused this, or because 
the trees had become of age, and ready to bear. Some 
trees on some lands grow too fast, and in tnese few 
exceptions, sod is best. 
THE LOCAL DEALER.—The market editor thinks 
“a man who can size up poultry, run wagons, etc., 
can be of service, and make a living.” The main 
thing he left out. He must be all that and a tip-top 
salesman. He can buy the stuff all right, but where 
will he sell, and how? He says: “If a man does not 
use good judgment in buying”; substitute selling for 
buying, and it will come nearer the fact. At Mo- 
